London Bridges Falling Down
by Harlequin
Summary: When Ange and Sean go pick up Paige and Ev, the rest of the kids has to defend against Orphanmaker


**__**

London Bridges Falling Down

A Story of the Second Chances Arc

By Mandy Lever

She was fairly sure they all hated her. In fact, she was sure that beyond a shadow of a doubt, that all of them loathed her, for who and what she was. 

Ex-lover.

Traitor.

__

Emplate.

As she rose in the early morning, she yawned, stretched, and looked out her window. She saw the gates of the school open, and the jeep head out. Sean was probably heading out with Angelo to pick up Paige and Everett. 

She idly wondered where Jonothon was, or Jubilee. The former… she was on unstable ground with. The latter? 

The latter probably hated her most of all. She saw those sapphire eyes - Jubilee's eyes were unnaturally blue, especially for someone of Asian descent, and every time they met Gayle's green eyes, they smoldered. They told her what Jubilee wouldn't. 

You shouldn't be here. 

You don't belong here.

And we don't _want_ you here.

Regardless, she was here. And she wasn't going anywhere. Well, except down to 'breakfast', which consisted of a glass of orange juice. Mostly because 'dinner' the night before consisted of Jonothon Starsmore's psionic energies.

She pressed her lips together grimly. She had to cut back. He was insisting that she keep her strength up, to stay, at least, on her feet, but she knew that prolonged feeding would either kill him or infect him with his own need for marrow - well, if his modified body could be infected anyway. 

Modified. Oh, come out and say it, Gayle. Mutant. Inhuman. Monstrous? No. He was a victim of nature. She was a victim of her own pain, and a creature that barely fit into the 'mutant' slot and more often then not slipped into the 'nightmare' category. The man who'd given her the 'gift' of supping, who's made her what she was.

And just, exactly, what she? She didn't have an answer for that.

She went down and out into the quad, the fading August heat beginning to fail in favor of the cooler September weather. She felt a breeze stir her hair, and looks toward the trees. Glass of orange juice, then the gym for her daily routine. She turned at a rustle, her eyes narrowing and scanning the greenery. Mmm. No mutagenic signature - and everyone on campus had one, as they were all among the 'genetically gifted'; Mutants who powers were beyond the ken of most normal human beings who lacked one, stray gene. 

Whatever it was, it was gone now. Must have been a squirrel.

She continued on into the main building, never realizing she was being watched.

* * * * * * * *

He saw the 'new one' cut across the quad and head toward the main building. 

"Nanny?"

Her voice over the com was scratchy, fuzzed by the static of the Academy's security grid. "Yes, Peter?"

"What are we going to do, Nanny? We didn't plan for extras! You made me all my 

neat new toys, but I thought this was a," and his voice turned petulant, "test run! I 

thought it was just going to be the gray guy and the mallrat!"

"Things have apparently changed, Peter. You just draw them off, as much as you can. Keep them away from the medlab, keep them busy. I'll get the twins and all will be well."

"Then do I get to go to Monaco and off their dad for real?" the Orphanmaker's voice was low. The thought of his failure - due to his 'growing up' - was a stain he had to remove from his 'record'. 

"But once we have them, we won't need to orphan them, Peter." Nanny's voice chided through the haze.

"But Nanny!"

There's was a whisper of noise through the static. Maybe she sighed. "Peter, If you 

want to go find Mr. St. Croix and punish him for being a bad parent, you can. But you don't need to. Nanny loves you Peter, You have nothing to prove."

He clapped his hands, apparently quite pleased with Nanny's love, and the metal gloves clanged against each other loudly. "Peter! Stop that! You'll alert them to out presence!" He immediately ceased, and then murmured, his tone subdued, "Sorry, Nanny." 

"No more sorrys, or delays. Get out there and get to work. You know what to do. 

And remember, Peter; Nanny loves you." 

He nodded, despite her absence. "Right-o, Nanny!" 

And with that, he began to slip through the woods, ready to scare him up some Generation Xers. And, of course, make Nanny proud of her Special Boy.

* * * * * * * * 

Sugar bombs! 

Sugar bombs were on the breakfast menu! Jubilee got herself a bowl and milk and 

sat herself down and got ready for breakfast. Just another day here at the Massachusetts Academy. 

But today was no ordinary day! Today, Everett was coming home! It was the start of an extraordinary morning.

Until She walked in.

The past few weeks, Jubilee has avoided Her like the plague. Jono too. She'd gotten rather chummy with Angelo, and slowly discovered that the Amazing Melting Man was a decent guy. But Jono had blown it by bringing Her back to America with him. Especially when he had the Hayseed. What, did he need a little piece of home on the side, or something? 

Green eyes met blue, and the stare off began. Jubilee glowered over her sugar bombs, and Gayle just gave her a 'look' and moved on, getting into the fridge and then into one of the cabinets and getting a glass.

"Gettin' kinda homey here, ain'tcha?" Jubilee said around spoonfuls of cereal.

Gayle ignored her, pouring her glass of orange juice. She just looked out the window over the sink and over at the gym. Just a glass of orange juice. That's all she wanted. Was that so bad?

So, the homewrecker was going to ignore her. Yeah. Right. She was hardly about to let this English bimbo walk in and just ruin Jono and Paige's (Or Yorkshire and Hayseed, as she thought of them) relationship… or whatever they passed as off as one. After all, if that happened, she might gossip about other things, things she didn't have an edge in. 

And, well, maybe somebody might get hurt. But she didn't want to think about that.

"Hey, I said-"

"I know what you said, girl, and I'm not interested in a battle of wits with an unarmed child," the Noblewoman turned, setting her glass down in the sink. "Good day." 

Jubilee almost blew a mouthful of cereal across the table. "Hey, don't you walk away from me!" 

But it was too late. Gayle was out the door. The girl debated getting up and going after the English flake, but… no. She was a small fry and would be dealt with soon 

enough.

After all, the fight between her and the Hayseed would be one to to show her what for, after all. And that would be a fight to pay money to see! Satisfied that in the end, the Queen would get hers, Jubilee went back to her breakfast. 

* * * * * * * * 

Jono winced inwardly. Well, luv, yer certainly know 'ow to piss off the locals. He rubbed uncomfortably at the bandages that he wore, shifting in discomfort.

It must be the supping, he supposed to himself. She took a part of his energy, a part of him, so of course, his telepathic abilities went with it --

He just didn't expect to be able to sense her, experience her feelings, listen through her ears, and taste with the tongue.

That's what had gotten him the first time it happened. Instead of the coppery, acrid taste of his own blood, the last thing his solid tongue ever tasted before it (and, respectively, all of his blood) was blown away in a nonthermal conflagration of psionic flame, when his powers manifested, he was suddenly tasting orange juice. It was so disturbingly normal! That blood sensation-memory permeated his sense of smell and 'taste', and then it was suddenly gone and he was tasting and smelling orange juice. 

He had almost dropped his guitar, as that explosion of flavor went over a tongue he didn't have and gave him a foreign feeling of refreshment. 

It dimmed, between feedings and slowly, he put two and two together. The more of his energy Gayle still had in her system, the more he could 'piggyback' her senses, when he focused on it. And when the shock of a cold shower had run down his back this morning, he'd gotten curious about what she was doing. (And what she'd been dreaming about to require a cold shower first thing in the morning.)

And apparently, what she was doing was alienating Jubilee.

He shook his head and withdrew his senses back into his own limited perceptions. It was tempting to 'ride' her senses more often, to get those feelings that he could any other way. The scent of tea, taste of biscuits, the sound of a heartbeat, (even if it wasn't his own) in his ears - all the things he'd lost when he'd blown a hole in his chest.

But he couldn't. It wasn't fair to her - especially without her knowledge. He sighed softly, looking around his room. Suddenly, he felt the need to be outside.

But not with her.

He looked over at his desk, hidden in a niche of his subterranean room, and looked at the picture above it.

They'd gotten him flipping off the camera. Ev and Jubilee leaned back to back, Angelo stretched his fingertips around the entire back of the class, and Penance sat at Ev and Jubilee's feet. Monet was looking as prim and proper as ever, and Paige…

Paige was coming home today.

He sighed raggedly, as his eyes focused in not on Paige, but the girl next to her. Well, he'd come to visit Penance in the medlab, going and 'talking' to the twins that lay comatose couldn't hurt either. And it's get him a little distraction. Anything to not think about her. 

And thinking about having to explain just what was going on to her.

* * * * * * * *

The _nerve_!

That little _bitch_ dared to get into her face! Gayle fumed as she went back into the girl's dorm, and got her sweats, and then headed for the locker room to change. 

If she really were an emplate, the girl would have been drained dry and left a dry husk for her classmates to find upon their return. 

But she wasn't. She was still a human being. She was not a monster. 

She wasn't. 

As she went into the gym, she caught a glance of Jonothon as she passed. He was headed toward the medical building, so she left well enough alone.

She worried her lower lip and picked up her pace. Things had gotten so confusing since her return! She really didn't know where she stood with him anymore, and it hurt.

But regardless, she went on. In the gym, she went over to the sound system and slipped in the chosen disc. It wasn't upbeat or dance music, it was Ani Difranco - It was gritty and soulful and despite the acoustic sound and the folk background, Gayle loved her. 

She slipped in 'Little Plastic Castle' and hit 'shuffle', before moving out on the hardwood floor, the songs starting up on 'Pixie'.

__

I'm a pixie

I'm a paper doll

I'm a cartoon

I'm a chipper cheerful free for all

And I light up a room

She could definitely empathize, as she began her warm up. She felt her muscles stretch and prime for activity. She then started in on her exercises. 

__

I'm the color me happy girl

Miss live and let live

And when they're out for blood

I always give 

The teeth snapped weakly in her palm as she stretched to reach her toes.

Blood. Mmm. Blood. Marrow and DNA and Blood and all the things that kept her alive. She furrowed her brow and tried not to think about it. She wasn't hungry, oh no. She didn't want to lock her hands on Jono's skin and feel-

No! Stop it, she chided herself. She couldn't think like that. If she did, she'd lose her humanity.

More so then she already had, anyway.

The man behind the counter looks like he's got 

A half a dozen places he'd rather be

And furthermore it looks like he's prepared

To take it all out on me

Is that what'd she's become? Just another scapegoat for these kids and their problems? She sighed softly, as she continued to exercise. Hard working body, but an idle mind… it lead to the wrong things.

Buddy, I don't really care what your problem is

Just don't make it mine

Come kids, let's all hold hands

And pretend we're having a good time

Then she heard it. A scrabbling sound, like drawing a nailbrush over the hardwood floor, only worse. She blinked, and looked around. 

Nothing.

Maybe you don't like your job

Maybe you didn't get enough sleep

Well, nobody likes their job

And nobody got enough sleep.

There it was again! 

She stopped, and this time, she gritted her teeth and let her eyes shift and focus. This other-sight, a 'gift' from her former patron, Marius St. Croix, could be enhanced if she applied the energies she'd supped from Jonothon the night previous to it. Her pupil expanded, swallowing the iris and white, rending the orbs a field of blackness. 

She looked again across the gym with those inhuman eyes. 

And then she saw it.

__

Maybe you just had

The worst day of your life

But, you know, there's no escape

And there's no excuse

So just suck up and be nice

The aura was familiar. She'd seen it a couple of times since returning to the school, and she'd seen it when she's first come here as an agent of revenge. 

Penance.

Yvette, he'd called her. She could remember him, murmuring her name in his sleep, when she stay within at his lighthouse abode. The child of shadows crept around the bend, her skin swallowing up what little light fell upon her.

All the privileged white kids on tv

Playing at death

With their ghostly makeup 

And heroin breath

Gayle just watched her for a few moments. She walked around the bleachers, her long-clawed hands held up before her, pacing herself. Gayle didn't move.

And all the little fishes are flapping wildly

On their hooks

While all the tope critics find great meaning

In the telephone book

Then, she picked up speed. Gayle could only begin to stumble backwards, bare feet propelling her away.

The little emperor he has no clothes

So he can't come out to play

And besides which life is suffering

And he likes it that way

She lost her footing and fell with a heavy thud to the floor. "Shite!" she hissed, but as she looked up, she could see the great, brick red claws getting closer!

And the little guy is not so friendly

But you know life has been cruel

So wipe that smile off your face baby

And try to be cool

And then the whole building was rocked. Penance flipped off her feet and rolled, her face contorted briefly in a silent cry of pain, and Gayle just lay flat on her back. 

__

Maybe you don't like your job

Maybe you didn't get enough sleep

Well, nobody likes their-

GHKK!

"What the hell?"

Ani stopped singing in the background. The world seemed to have lost all sound except the rush of blood in her ears. And then, she heard it this time. 

An explosion, nearby. The skylights rattled and shook an then all was still.

She rolls over onto her stomach, and looks to where Penance was. 

Was.

She was gone now, wherever she went unknown to Gayle. "Shite," she spat again and then struggled to her feet and ran for the door. What the hell was going on?

* * * * * * * *

Unaware of the chaos around him, Jono trundled down into the medlab. He passed the widgets and gizmos and medical wizardry that it seemed only the 'X' could provide. He got to the 'open' rooms, where there were windows to look in upon the patients. 

And he stopped at one such window. Within, on a shared bed, lay two children. With coffee-colored skin, long dark hair, and almost cherubic features.

He entered the room, his boot heels clicking on the hard tile, and let the door swing shut behind him. 'ullo, gels, he murmured down to them. Neither stirred at his mental voice.

Normally, I wouldn't talk much t' yer, but since yer seem to be pretty good confidants right now, I figure I c'n trust yer, he sat down in one of the chairs and sighed.

He looked over the two sleeping forms. No, he couldn't even talk to two comatose kids. 

How pathetic could you get? 

He watched the twins in silence for a time, and then just rose from his seat. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all. I promise I'll be back. If just t' try an' get some answers from yer, when yer awake. He said softly, before turning to head out into the hallways. 

He opened the door and began to walk down the hallway, when he was suddenly greeted by a puff of smoke… and a walking egg?

"Oh no!" the egg said in a somewhat human voice distorted by the radio transmitter it was broadcasted over. "You're not supposed to be here!" 

Neither 'r yer, Jono replied. 

"Move aside, Young Master. Nanny has to take and save the twins. They going to be my Lost Girls."

Jono's brows arched up. He was hardly going to allow himself to be dictated to by an egg! Sod off, bint. Yer ain't goin' no where with the twins, he stated flatly. He felt a surge of power beneath his bandages, as his heightened emotions brought his powers to the fore.

"Oh, we're going to have to do this the hard way," Nanny sighed fuzzily over her radio, and it was then that Jono saw the armor hiss and open in places, platforms folding outward from it.

Mini-missile launchers were mounted just above the funny, gangly arms of this Egg-woman. One, lone young man against… missiles.

__

Missiles!

Oh, shite. 

* * * * * * * *

She'd think it incredible later, but the first thing she wanted when she ran out of the Gym, was shoes. She'd left hers laying on the hardwood floor inside and was now running full-tilt across the quad, heading for the main building.

All she wanted this morning was a glass of orange juice. Now, she was wishing that she'd wanted, oh, a plane ticket back to London. Anything rather then deal with this! 

She almost collided with Jubilee as she came out of the door. "Whoa! Where do ya think yer goin', Queenie?" 

"There was an explosion and the windows in the gym rattled and then there was another explosion and then Penance ran out there and then -"

"Whoa! Put on the breaks!" Jubilee looked around, putting her hand up to silence the rambling Englishwoman. "I'm not stupid! I felt the explosion! What about Penny?"

"She was in the Gym and she bloody attacked me and then the explosion knocked her away an-" 

"You didn't do anything to her?" sparks suddenly flared around Jubilee's balled fists and Gayle backed off a step, denying the accusation with a sharp "No! Listen to me!" But then, another explosion rocked the grounds - and close to home. 

Both girls went tumbling down the steps, and then looked up to see the jet-packed figure coming around the edge of the main building. "There you are!" A voice boomed, and Gayle heard Jubilee groan. "Not this chump again!" 

But as a red blur darted by, both realized that the figure was talking to them.

He was after Penance.

"Shite!" Gayle cursed under her breath, as they both got to their feet. "You go get Jono or something! I'll try and get this guy off Penny's back!" Gayle mutely nodded, knowing she could do nothing else, and set off running again, this time toward the medlab. 

She only hoped Jubilee could take care of not only herself, but Penance as well. 

* * * * * * * *

Well, the plan had been sound. At least, until the boy had gotten involved. He had to deviate from his morning patterns, had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Jonothon had his back pressed up against the wall, one of the consoles over turned to provide him some shielding. She'd exhausted her mini-missile supply, and lucky for him, they couldn't track a being that didn't put out a human heat signature. Of course, they had destroyed two of the examination tables, but better them then him.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are…" Nanny called, as she slowly came around the bend.

Shut your cakehole, yer stupid bint, Jono grumbled. Just come around the bend. Come around and he'll crack that egg but good!

"Jonothon!"

Gayle? 

He paused, wondering if this was some sort of trick, if those speaker set in the armor could emulate a voice enough to fool him. 

"Oh, no, not - Oh! It's you. Poor little human girl, you were lost the moment you stepped on campus," there was a sharp _thwip_ and a small thud.

Jono finally looked around the fallen console, and felt dread grip a heart he didn't possess

Gayle was covered in some sparkling dust, looking at it mutely as it coated her arms and face. "What is God's name is this?" she asked in confusion, and then looked up at the egg-shell armor and the woman hidden within.

"That, my child," Nanny began as she circled the bedusted girl, "is Pixie Dust. It's a fast acting narcotic that makes you easier to control telepathically." As she spoke, Nanny's tendrils of power sought out her victim's mind, and Gayle's eyes shifted and lost focus. "Absorbs through the skin and in your lungs via inhalation. And you just got a good whiff. Now, be Nanny's good girl, and go after that bad boy." 

Jono watched in vague horror as Gayle's empty green eyes turned to him, and she began toward him quickly. Nanny herself just began to waddle back toward the private rooms - and the twins, now that Jonothon was occupied.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place - his ex-girlfriend and an insane egg-woman. 

* * * * * * * *

Penance ran on all fours through the quad, the shockwave from each successive blast spurring her to only push herself and run faster. Part of her didn't understand that she could easily take a direct blow, and survive. That her Diamond hard skin would protect her.

She only knew that there were shells flying and that she had to get away and survive.

One more blast knocked her off her feet, and as she hit the grass rolling, she heard the sound of laughter. "Tag! You're dead!" 

She turned her head, mane of spike-like hair rustling soundlessly behind her, and then saw the barrage of pyrotechnic sparks impact the Purple and Chromed mechanized monstrosity in the air above her. 

The cavalry had arrived, in the form of the smart talkin', pyrotechnic creatin', shoot-from-the-hip Jubilation Lee. 

"Hey! You! Robo-boy! Yo momma is so rusty that they named a color after her!" she cried, and as she let another burst of paffs fly, she realized she'd been spending way to much time with Angelo, if she was using 'snaps' as a way to get her opponent's attention.

But, needless to say, it had the desired affect. As the Orphanmakers thrusters righted him, Penance had time scramble for the treeline, hoping to lose him in the woods that surrounded the school. 

Little did they know that's exactly what he wanted them to do. Nanny would be so proud of him! His part of the plan was going just like clockwork. He just waited for his comsignal, to let him know that she had the twins, and harried after the two young women in the meantime.

* * * * * * * *

He'd smacked her to the ground twice. 

She kept coming. 

He's felt those tiny maws set in her palms gouge through his bandages, though she never got the purchase she sought to feed. 

Finally, Jono turned and just pelted after Nanny. He hoped Gayle wasn't athletic enough to follow and actually catch him. He had to prevent Nanny from getting the twins!

Nanny was at the door, pulling it off it's hinges as she went, when he simply let loose. Perhaps knocking her off her feet, in that rounded, egg armor, would help. 

Apparently, it did. She only turned to see the raging gout of psionic flame lashing toward her and then it impacted, knocking her down the hallway. He began to move forward, until he felt a hand - and a pair of teeth - latch onto his arm. 

The teeth didn't penetrate the heavy leather of his jacket, but it gave Gayle a good solid grip on his arm. She spun him around, and he only had the chance to look at her briefly before her fist swung out and snapped across what was left of his cheek.

That was the bad thing about Gayle. She'd been in a number of pub fights right 

along side him - and knew how to throw a punch.

He made a sound not unlike static, on a psionic level, and then whipped his head back to grab hold of her arm. Sorry, luv, but I'm not gonner let yer get by me 'at easily, perhaps, when he was human, that would have slown him down. 

Not this time. Pain mattered very little to someone who was short a lot of nerve endings. 

I'm sorry, gel, he said flatly, and then, as she raised her hands for another swing, he sank his fist into her gut.

With a woof of breath, she curled over his fist, gasping for air, and then he moved back and headed into the room. He picked up one twin, and then then other. This wasn't going to be easy.

"J-Jono?" He turned as he heard her voice, and saw Gayle leaning heavily in the doorway. Her eyes were clear again, and he thrust one of the twins, who said nothing, into her arms. Take 'er an' run. Then, the twin in his arms squirmed, and her dark eyes opened. She spoke to him not in English, but in French, and so he had no idea what to say to her. 

Then, she clearly said, "Jonothon, what's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

… Jono looked between Gayle and the children, and then took Gayle's hand and placed the girl's within it. Run. There's a bad person after yer an' yer sister. Yer gotta run an' git away. He looked up at Gayle, and she blurted, "But there's a flying maniac shelling the school! I can't take them out!" 

Take 'em inter the biosphere. Yer can activate the emergency locks from the control room. Trust me, there won't be no gettin' to yer. Jono assured her, and then pushed her out the door. He looked down the hallway, and say Nanny finally getting to her feet. If it were really possible for an egg to look displeased, Nanny pulled it off.

Gayle just did as she was told, and ran off, one twin in her arms, the other held tightly by the hand and lead running behind her. 

"Oh, we simply can't have that. No one runs away from Nanny's Love," The egg chided and Jono tore loose with another blast. 

No one fucks with me mates, was the Londoner's reply.

* * * * * * * *

"_PETER_!"

As Nanny screeched over his communicator, the Orphanmaker stopped flying and 

shelling the woods. He'd lost sight of Penance and Jubilee some time ago, unaware that the mute girl had tunneled undeground an was getting them swiftly back to the campus. "Yes, Nanny?" 

"The miserable human! She's got our lost girls, Peter! Come away and get to the quad at once." Peter nodded again, and says, "Coming right up, Nanny!" He fired up his thrusters and headed back for the quad.

* * * * * * * *

Leaving the sound roar of Jono's psionic flame and Nanny's chiding in the distance, Gayle ran with the twins up and out into the medlab panting. 

"You're hurting me!" The girl she dragged along behind her whimpered as she was tugged along, and then cried petulantly, "Let go!" 

"I can't, luv, we've got to go!" Gayle stopped briefly, pulling the girl forward, and heaved her up under one arm and proceeded to run again as she clung to her. Her muscles screamed at the weight she carried, but adrenaline pushed her onward.

Then, the earth before her erupted, and she dropped the twins both to the grass, only to see…

Penance pop her head out of the hole. She swiftly skittered away, once her pale blue eyes met Gayle's, and then Jubilee was crawling out. 

"I think we made a wrong turn at Alber-" Jubilee stopped mid-line, as she Gayle and the two girls struggling to sit up. The one who had previously been unconscious was now sitting there, wide-eyed and silent.

"Geez, Gayle, do you get around 'r what? First haulin' Jono off, and now you're cradle-snatching?" 

"Oh, do shut up you obnoxious bitch! Jono is down there dealing with some… some telepathic egg person!" Gayle snapped in turn, and went to take up the previously comatose girl's hand as she gripped the other girls hand and tried to pull them up as she rose.

"The Orphanmaker is coming," said the first twin, and she looked away, and then over at her sister. "Claudia, it's time." The second of the pair wordlessly raised her hand, palm up.

As the twins touched, Gayle saw a flash of light - and then another as the Orphanmaker, having run out of shells, switched to his energy rifle, strafed the area. And then Gayle didn't see anything but blackness.

* * * * * * * *

When the two flashes of light had almost blinded her, Jubilee had been smart. She' dropped back into that hole that Penance had dug, and waited. But when she poked her head back out, she was greeted by a sight she hadn't expected.

"Shut your mouth, Jubilation. Gawking is rude." The dulcet, French-tinted voice was unmistakable. And neither was the long legged, perfect form before her. 

"You know," Jubilee said as she hauled herself from the hole, "if that hadn't been the first thing outta your mouth, I would have wondered who it really was."

"I'm hardly forgettable, Jubilation. I'm sure you would have figured it out." Where the twins once stood, there was now only Monet St. Croix. Without another word, she turned and bent over the fallen woman, her expression unreadable. "Mmm. It's a good thing that she was only taken out by the concussive shockwave from Orphanmaker's bad aim. Otherwise I'd be leaving you to tell Jonothon that you helped get his errant paramour killed. But he must not have been aiming for her. Or me." 

"Well, Ms I'm-Too-Sexy-To-Be-Twins, then who was he aiming for? And where did he go?" 

Monet's dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Look around. I'm no longer a 'target', and Penance is missing."

"Shit! You're right!" 

"I'm always right. Now we have to split up. We've got to find him and -" Before she could finish delivering her order, there was a screech in the distance - near the Danger Grotto.

"Of course! Where else would Penance go to hide?" Monet lifted from the ground. "I'll got deal with him. You take care of Gayle." And then without another word, she flew off like a shot toward the biosphere.

Jubilee grumped, and then kneeled by the shocked Brit. "Three months in two separate bodies, in a coma, and the first thing she does when she gets herself together is start barkin' orders."

* * * * * * *

Young master Starsmore was proving to be quite troublesome for Nanny to deal with here in medlab. He made it virtually impossible for her to stay on her feet, and his natural psionic resistance and immunity to her pixie dust made it impossible to control him. Her frustration mounted as boy proved to be a match for her admittedly limited combat skills.

"Nanny!" Peter's cry brought her attention elsewhere as she struggled to get up from the latest barrage of psionic flame. "Nanny's busy, Peter!" 

"Nanny the red girl's cut me! She cut through my armor and I'm bleeding, Nanny, I'm bleeding! My hand, Nanny she's cut my hand!"

Nanny's heart skipped a beat within her shell, and suddenly Master Starsmore mattered very little to her. "I'm coming, Peter!" It was her boy! Her Very Special Boy was in trouble!

When Jonothon saw that his opponent had vanished in a puff of smoke, he blinks, and then wasted no time questioning it, and headed out of the medlab after her. Something must have gone wrong. Either for Nanny and the Orphanmaker, or for Generation X. And he was going to find out which.

* * * * * * * *

Jubilee heard the screech from the biosphere, and then the shout of Gayle! from across the quad. She looked up, saw Jonothon running and looked down the still-unconscious Gayle. "Look, take care of your squeeze! I gotta see what's goin' on in the biosphere!" And with that, leaving Jono to kneel by Gayle's side, she bolted toward the grotto.

Upon arriving at the doors, and getting into the lush greenery and natural surrounding in which they trained. She paused, panting to catch her breath, and then scanned the artificial forest created in the grotto. Where were they? 

She bolted through the trees and finally, skidded to a stop upon seeing the fallen purple and silver form of the Orphanmaker, clutching his arm and howling at the top of his lungs within his armor.

And then she saw that his hand, which had formerly been attached to the arm he held so tightly to his chest, was down on the ground besides Penance, who's leather straps were soiled with blood. His blood. Monet hovered in the air above Penance, her face one of neutral shock. 

"Omigod!" 

There was a puff of smoke, and three sets of eyes turned to the egg-shaped armor and the small woman within it. "Oh, my Peter! What have they done to you, my precious Peter?"

"Nanny it huuuuuurts! IT HURTS!" He howled in anguish.

"Nanny will make it better, Peter, I promise." The 'face' on the armor turned and glowered at the three teens. "You'll pay for hurting my Peter. One day, you'll all be orphans, and you'll have no one to go to but Nanny! But I won't take you!" And with that, she pulled Peter to her, and in another puff of smoke, they were gone.

** * * * * *

When the jeep pulled down the drive, Sean was greeted by a hole in the drive way that hadn't been there when he left. A large hole. He slammed on the brakes and stopped at gaped a moment.

"Saints! What the hell?" Paige looked up from her book, blinking her blue eyes and then scrambled to unbuckle her seat belt. "Something's attacked while we've been gone she cried, as Everett, Angelo and Sean climbed out of the car, Sean calling, 

"Dammit Paige, slow down! Ye don't know what ye're going intae!" 

But heedless, she ran, her fingers finding her skin and husking into a glittering form of crystal. "JO-CHAMBER? JUBILEE?" Then, a mental voice she hadn't heard all summer called to her. 

No need to should, Paige. We're all fine. 

"Monet?" All four stopped dead. Monet wasn't here. The twins had been.

Who did you expect? Jonothon doesn't have this kind of projection range. Nor does his have my voice. We're in the medlab. Penance incurred minor blunt trauma, and during her rescue attempt, and Gayle received a minor concussion. Both are coming around now. 

Paige blinked. 

Gayle. 

She only knew one Gayle. Gayle Edgerton. Jonothon's ex-girlfriend.

She instinctively turned her eyes to Angelo, who was already looking chagrined and down at his feet. His reaction told her that her instincts were on the money. It was that Gayle.

"C'mon, lads an' lass, we best be findin' out what's occurred. I just got the campus bloody repaired!" Sean said, and started off toward the Medlab. Paige nodded curtly, following after, with Everett and Angelo dogging her heels.

* * * * * * * * 

'old still. 

"I'm twenty-one years old, Jonothon. I can apply an ice pack!"

Bollocks. 'old still. Yer got a bloody concussion an' I don't want yer t' breath wrong. Do yer understand me? 

"Yes, Mummy." 

Monet and Jubilee looked over at the pair of Brits in open annoyance. Penance just say among the ruins of the medlab, and all were silent in the wake of Jono and Gayle's bickering.

"Mr. Cassidy and the others have returned to campus," Monet announced. Jono and Gayle didn't appear to hear that announcement, and continued to bicker.

"Will you two stop?" snapped Jubilee. "Ya know, I'd quit cozyin' up to your homeslice, Jonny, cause Paige is gonna be here any minute."

Excuse me? Jono turned a narrow eyed gaze on Jubilee, who remained undaunted. Wot wos that, Jubilee? I think I 'ear yer just gag on yer bloody foot! 

"Oh, c'mon, Yorkshire! Angelo and I both know you're gettin' some on the sly from the Queen there." 

"WHAT?"

All four looked at the door. And in it stood both Sean… and Paige. Sean flushed horribly, and Paige had gone pale. When Jono rose from Gayle side, managing to barely say her name, she made a small hurt noise, and then dashed out the door. Jonothon snarled in frustration and went to go after, Sean more then willing to move out of the way. But when he say Angelo in the hallway, he reached out, and snagged his shirt.

Yer an' I 'r gonner 'ave words later, Espinosa, was all he said. And then he went after Paige. Angelo and Everett looked at each other blankly, and then Angelo sighed.

"And that goes for you and me, too, Jubilee." Gayle growled, as she got up, grabbed her icepack and stalking out, ignoring the stares of the other students. Sean, Everett, and Angelo eventually got into the room, and looked between Monet, Penance, and Jubilee in mute shock. 

Finally, Angelo sighed, and said, "Welcome back to school, guys. Looks like it's gonna shape up to another bueno year."


End file.
